April's Books I Love

You may have noticed that I’ve stopped reviewing books. I struggled with that monthly blog and I’m certain it came across as borriing. There were problems with the whole thing. I hate to say anything bad about what I’ve read. Some of the writer’s are friends, some I’ve just always loved, but more importantly for me is the fact that writing a bad book is just as hard as writing a good book.

I know.

So, for several months I’ve been wrestling with the whole reviewing books thing. I mean, I don’t have a gun to my ribs, no one is telling me how to do this blog, right? It’s mine. That’s the joy of it and the healing power of it. Because, have no doubt, writing this blog several times a week has saved me in so many ways. Biggest being, it kept me writing when I barely could. That sounds so small, but it has been huge.

Why was I so intent on doing reviews on the books I read anyway? But, I seemed to be. I really had this need to do something about the books I read. For writers, I’ve always thought the books they read are as important as the books they write. And I love nothing more than to let others know about a great book. I think it is a responsibility for a reader to pass on to other readers books worth our time. And talking about books is part of the joy of reading them, don’t you think? And sharing them.

Finally, a decision came to me in the middle of the night, as so many things do. I will only write about the books I truly love. The others don’t matter. If a friend were to ask me about a good book that I’d read recently, what book would I mention? That’s what matters. That’s what I truly wanted to share on my blog.

Last month there were two such books: One Good Dog by Susan Wilson. This is about second chances and living a life worth living. I’ve always been a sucker for animal books and this book was intelligent and uplifting. Not quite as good as The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, but darn close and with the same little kernels of wisdom.

And A Homemade Life: stories and recipes from my kitchen table, by Molly Wizenberg (the creator of Orangette). Another passion of mine is cookbooks. I love them. I read them like novels. My favorite cookbooks are wards or organizations spiral bound fund raiser type books filled with everyday recipes. It’s the one thing I can rarely pass up at yard sales, antique shops and flea markets. Best yet, are cookbooks with tons of personal notes in the margins. It’s like reading a secret memoir, a tiny window in someone’s life, a story. And I love story I find there.

In A Homemade Life, you get stories, wonderful, personal stories. Wide-open windows into Wizenberg’s life, like chucked full margins of notes. Even better are the luscious, yummy-sounding recipes. Most recipes sound gourmet and beyond the everyday, simple home-cooking I do, but intriguing.

I think I’ve mentioned in this blog before my love for cooking. I’ve always cooked even when I was young. As a busy mother and wife it often became only a necessary task, but there have always been huge aspects of cooking that speak to me. Baking, I’ve learned is a wonderful stress-reliever and I learned after I was sick, chopping vegetables was very therapeutic.

Wizenberg is a fine writer. Each recipe’s story so well written that you can almost smell and taste the food. Long after I finished the book I thought about the stories and the recipes. Many would be difficult to make or even talk my husband into trying, but oh, how I’d love to taste each recipe.

One particular has been put on my to-be-tried list: Slow-roasted Tomatoes with Coriander because come July and August I have no doubt there will be an abundance of tomatoes from my garden due to a kind of snafu.

The weather has been just beastly. No, that isn’t even accurate. The weather has been Heckle and Jeckle. One day spring, next day winter. Hard to do gardening in that sort of situation but my husband and I sallied forth and planted cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, chard, scallions, radish and tomatoes. Four tomatoes: two Juliettes' ( We love this variety of grape tomatoes. They look like little Romas. They’re so sweet and last forever on the counter) and two Early Girls. We carefully put hot caps on, too. But the poor things froze even under those hot caps, so back to the nursery I went. When we finally got around to replacing them in the ground, weeks later, the original tomatoes had developed tiny, new growth.

After all, that I couldn’t bear to kill the tough little things and tear them from the ground. I have eight tomatoes looking pretty healthy. I’m going to need to do some slow-roasting and freezing, don’t you think?

And that’s just fine, too, because nothing’s better than a pint of roasted tomatoes added to the spaghetti sauce recipe I had to develop because of my low-sodium restriction.

Toni’s Spaghetti Sauce
1 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (8oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 (6oz.) can tomato paste
1 pint of frozen roasted tomatoes (or fresh roasted tomatoes)
1 teaspoon of sugar or 1 carrot
¾ teaspoon of Italian seasoning or your favorite combination of oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram (If you use fresh herbs and that wonderful, use about twice that amount or to suit your taste)
1 tablespoon parsley flakes or 2 chopped fresh
1 lb. lean ground beef or chicken or turkey

Brown ground meat over medium heat until all red is gone. You can salt and pepper the meat while it’s cooking, but I only use pepper. Drain. Add onion and garlic and cook until transparent. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, roasted tomatoes. Stir in seasoning and reduce heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Cook pasta while simmering. 4-6 servings.